The present invention relates to a pixel interpolation method for image data captured by an electronic imaging device having a Bayer arrangement.
Conventionally known methods for interpolating pixels in image data obtained by A/D conversion of capture data captured by a CCD sensor having a Bayer arrangement of pixels include, for example, a pixel interpolation method based on simple average calculation, a method for correcting pixel values by applying a multiplication coefficient to faulty lines only, or various methods proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,741,754, 5,652,621, and 5,629,734, and the like. For example, FIG. 5 shows an example in which capture data cannot be obtained from all of the pixels in one row of a Bayer arrangement, due to a fault in a CCD sensor, and hence a vertical mark appears in the image data. FIG. 4 shows a pixel arrangement having a Bayer arrangement. In the diagram, R indicates pixel data for a red pixel, G indicates pixel data for a green pixel, B indicates pixel data for a blue pixel, and X indicates pixel data for an interpolated pixel. On the basis of a pixel interpolation method based on simple average calculation, X23=(B21+B25), X33=(G31+G35).